My head is a potato @pipbaines13

The mentors, agency meetings, talks, techniques and initiative from others, all rich fertilizer.

Finishing higher education, I swore never to return. Now I’m glad I did.

This is my first blog since the beginning, so I thought I’d spout reflections on what I’ve absorbed so far.

SCA is going to gear me up for employment

I’ve had no money before and it was bleak.

At University, there was an unspoken assumption that because you have a degree you’ll be hired.

I learned the hard way that this isn’t the case.

I became good at ‘networking’, what I’ve affectionately renamed as ‘yourselfing’.

In the first 2 weeks, I’ve already visited 5 agencies.

Thanks SCA for connecting me with people and setting my sights high.

Now I just need to hone in on craft.

The school teaching format is crazy and good

I’m used to learning about incredible ideas.

What I’m not been used to is consistent brilliant delivery of incredible ideas.

SCA teachers really embody the subject of communication.

You want to listen to them.

It’s rare to find this in all teachers, but SCA seems to have a knack for attracting brilliant mentors.

The content they deliver is equally interesting.

I’m coming home energized

Learning can be pure confusion and draining.

SCA though generally leaves you thinking more about what has been discussed.

Today Marc showed us the Hamlet Cigar Advert and I can’t stop thinking about it.

The film was brilliant.

I’m now racing through my head thinking of other adverts like that and situations.

I want to be doing something with my life that has this effect on my brain.

SCA will train good habits

A key reason I’m here is to up my ideas and writing game.

School is getting me to do creative exercises constantly.

Over time, I really hope to get better.

Habits ‘maketh’ the person and I’m developing good working routines to get where I want to be in life.

I’m feeling uncomfortable already

I always think fear is a great indicator of growth.

I am terrified.

But I am growing.

Will I be able to generate a good idea?

Will I do it on time?

Will others like me?

Will I like others?

Will I still have time to wash, cook food, exercise, see old mates, and maintain a relationship with a young man?

I worry sometimes.

But I’m prone to that.

Will my innately cynical brain throw a stick in its front wheel?

Pa, probably.

I’m mid-way through week three and there’s a lot of opportunities ahead.

From discovering something “Chindoku” for mentor Mark Palmer, to creating some topical ads, to writing up all I’ve learnt each day, to liaising with my groups on briefs, to practice scamping, freewriting and finishing my own project on the size: 365 days of pain – a short story, I’ve got a lot to get on with.